Nearly 2 dozen turtles brought to sanctuary

Thursday

Nov 29, 2007 at 2:00 AM

Twenty-one turtles have been rescued from Cape beaches so far this fall, according to the Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Audubon naturalist Dennis Murley said that 17 Kemp's ridley turtles, the world's most endangered turtle species, and four green turtles have been brought into the Wellfleet sanctuary, which is the Cape agency authorized by the federal government to coordinate turtle rescues. Most turtles migrate south in the fall, but some remain behind in relatively warm Cape Cod Bay waters. Cold water temperatures slow their metabolism to the point where they cannot move. Onshore winds push them to shore where they can freeze to death on the beach.